Exposition
by KoopaSensei
Summary: Izuku Midoriya is an exemplary hero, but even he cannot carry the weight he's been handed alone. So maybe, it's time to share the load.


It hadn't taken a lot. Izuku was walking down the street to the nearest corner market, on a day off after the stress of meeting the top students in UA, the Big Three. Almost idly, he saw a woman walking down the street, holding her daughter's hand. Maybe it was the shape of her face, maybe it was her hair, but something about the woman made Izuku think about the person All Might had saved in his fight against All for One.

When Izuku was a block away from his destination, his mind turned towards how incredible it had been, that All Might had been able to save her life, even in the middle of a life-or-death battle. _"Now, it's your turn."_ He did his best not to shiver as those words, wrung out of All Might's weakened form, rang through his brain once again.

As Izuku walked through the aisles of the small convenience store, idly trying to find the exact kind of snack he wanted to purchase, he started clenching and unclenching one hand, the intensity growing each time, without even realizing he was doing it. Izuku wasn't just training to be a hero, someone who patrolled the city, provided rescue assistance, fought the odd villain here and there. He was being molded to become the next Symbol of Peace, the hero on whose shoulders society stood. While checking out the high-protein jerky he'd picked out, Izuku's hand went from clenching to lightly scratching his side.

By the time Izuku had gotten back to the dorms, the weird itchy feeling had spread to an amorous sensation moving around his skin at random. That would have been bad enough, but his muscles screamed for action, like he had to be doing something, anything, right then and there. Not unlike the leader of the League of Villains, Izuku's hands started scratching the skin of their opposite arm as his mind spiraled. There was so much riding on him, but who was he supposed to talk to about it? All Might? The pro hero may have been Izuku's idol, but it didn't feel like that would help. He needed to vent, to share his struggles, and All Might was on too high a pedestal for Izuku to feel comfortable doing that. His relationship with Bakugo was getting better, but there was no way spilling his guts to his former tormentor was going to play out well. After a very difficult half hour, the attack subsided, and Izuku found himself thinking of what he could do to stop the anxiety from piling on him any worse than it already was.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Young Midoriya?" The former #1 hero in all of Japan had pumped himself back up to his muscular form just for a few seconds so he could deliver the question to Midoriya with confidence in his voice. That was worth the light coughing of blood that followed, to be sure. When the boy had reached out to Toshinori about a private meeting after that day's quirk training class had ended, he'd been happy to accept, though definitely curious. The boy was so excited to work with Toshinori at all, that when combined with his humble nature, it was rare for him to ask anything of his mentor.

The young hero wasn't looking at Toshinori, not at first, and from the sweat dripping down the side of his face, it was clear that whatever this was, it was more difficult for him to ask Toshinori than he'd imagined. "I've...been struggling a lot recently." The words hit Toshinori hard, and Midoriya immediately started verbally backpedalling. "Not with my classes or Quirk or anything!" That relieved Toshinori a little, but made him even more curious as to what this was about. Midoriya let out a sigh before continuing. "I've been having...anxiety attacks. Not frequently! But enough of them that I know I need to do something about them." While that didn't exactly make Toshinori feel better, he took stock of Midoriya seriously as he began to understand the problem. "I'm just...there's a lot, a lot that I think about, and I can't talk to anyone about it."

Toshinori nodded, putting the pieces together. "The burden of our secret is a heavy one, that is to be sure. I understand why you can find it difficult to share your feelings with me, or with young Bakugo. As important as One for All is, every holder has been able to share the secret with a few close friends, if only to keep themselves sane. If you'd like to, I can arrange for a full explanation. Using your best judgement, bring those friends you trust enough to share the story with, those who can bear the risks knowing what we know face, to my office tomorrow afternoon, at six o'clock." Then, he put one hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me about this. I'll always do everything I can to help you, Izuku Midoriya."

When Toshinori had made the offer to young Midoriya, he had expected to see him enter the room with Uraraka and Iida, the two members of the class whom he had developed what seemed to be the closest bond. To be sure, they were the first through the door with Midoriya at the appointed time. But immediately following them were more members of Class 1-A: Tsuyu Asui, Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyaorozu, and Eijiro Kirishima. For a moment, Toshinori considered taking Midoriya aside to explain he meant one or two friends, not half a dozen. But he cast that thought aside. Looking at them all, Midoriya clearly trusted them all with his life, and from everything he'd seen as their teacher, he hadn't chosen poorly in the slightest.

Some of them needed to sit on the floor, as there was limited seating in his meager office, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. Once they were all assembled, Toshinori noticed they were looking not at him, but at their classmate Bakugo, who sat sullenly off to the side in a fold-out chair. Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention, once the door was closed and everyone was there, Toshinori began. "As I'm sure you've all noticed, young Midoriya and I have been quite close, closer than most students and teachers, over this school year. He and I have been keeping a secret from the world, but young Midoriya has chosen to share it with you all, so that he might not feel so alone in this."

Their interest was clearly piqued, but once again their focus shifted over to the scowling Bakugo. "Cracker-bones over there already spilled the beans to me last week," he growled as an explanation, which seemed to only make everyone more curious. With the set-up complete, Toshinori began his explanation.

When his best friend in the world had asked Tenya if he'd come with him and several other classmates to see All Might once school was done for the day, Tenya had accepted immediately. Midoriya was the kind of friend who rarely asked for anything in return for the frequent help he gave others, and as such Iida did his best to answer the call whenever it would go out. He had no idea this decision would rock the foundations of his understanding of the world. "During the first generation of Quirks, before the world began to fall into chaos and disorder, a man was born in Japan with perhaps the most powerful Quirk imaginable. This man, whose true name has disappeared, possessed All for One, a Quirk that allowed him to steal Quirks from others and to distribute them as he saw fit. By stockpiling the best Quirks he could find, and giving out the ones he didn't want to build an organization of devoted followers, All for One quickly became the hidden ruler of Japan."

Tenya couldn't believe what he was hearing, and despite his instincts screaming out not to interrupt his teacher, he couldn't help himself. "But sir, those are just myths, internet legends. The government has officially stated, multiple times, that any rumors about a shadowy Kingpin controlling things from behind that scenes are factually inaccurate." Doing the math in his head, Tenya added, "Not only that, but to be as old as you claim he is, this 'All for One' would need to be well over a hundred years old." Tenya felt shameful for speaking in such a disrespectful way to his teacher, but he couldn't allow such things to be said without reasonable objection

To his surprise, All Might looked at him as though he'd been expecting push back of that sort. "When he was active, All for One did everything he could to keep his existence a secret from the world, including forcing the Japanese government to squash any rumors that did appear. Once he fell from power, the government made the call to keep the official line from changing. They feared what would happen to society's stability of their cover-up was found out. As for how he's lived this long, we believe he stole a Quirk, or a combination of Quirks, that make natural death an impossibility for him." As much as Tenya wanted to continue arguing, it soon became clear that All for One's very real existence was far from the last impossible thing he'd learn that day.

When Shota had been brought into this room at Midoriya's request, he hadn't had any clear idea as to why. He didn't really need to know why though: Midoriya was his friend, possibly the first he'd made at UA, and if he needed Shota's help with anything, he had it. "What even fewer people knew was that All for One had a younger brother, who seemed to be Quirkless, and opposed his brother's evil actions with a strong sense of morality. For some reason, perhaps out of kindness or in an attempt to pressure his brother into standing by his side, All for One gave his younger brother a Quirk, one that stockpiled power over time. What neither knew was that the brother wasn't Quirkless at all, but instead had the ability to give his Quirk to others. This combined with the Quirk he'd been given, creating a Quirk that can pass from person to person, and only gets more powerful with each new user. This Quirk came to be known as 'One for All'."

The pieces began to fall into place. A Quirk that could move from one person to another. The similarities between Midoriya and All Might's Quirks. A secret that two of them held, that they were now sharing with a select group. But instead of saying any of the conclusions he was forming out loud, a little afraid of being proven wrong, Shota instead asked, "How exactly is the quirk passed down?" It was an inane question, but he felt like he had to say something.

For a moment, it looked like Midoriya was going to answer that question, but then he stifled himself and let All Might take it. "Well, it's something the current holder must do voluntarily, it can't be taken, even by All for One. I won't go into the specifics, as they aren't entirely relevant. But what is important is that the brother passed his Quirk on, with the hope it would one day be strong enough to defeat his tyrannical sibling. It passed from person to person, down seven generations before it came to me, and I became the eighth holder of One for All." Shota's heart sounded deafening in his ears, he couldn't believe he was correct, barely managing to hear as All Might continued, "And from me it has since passed to young Midoriya."

When Deku had approached Ochaco and Iida after class to invite them to this weird get-together, Ochaco had said yes almost without thinking. The young green-haired hero had become such a central aspect of her life that when she'd been told he was secretly the holder of a super-special Quirk passed down from hero to hero, the same Quirk All Might had, it felt like the world had fallen out from under her. Her stomach felt like it usually did when she tried floating herself, while her brain felt numb, still struggling to process what it had heard as more information came barrelling towards her.

"The reason I had to pass my quirk on to someone else, to find my successor, is a story that starts quite a few years ago. After I'd built my reputation as the Symbol of Peace, and worked to tear about the criminal organization All for One had built, the two of us finally fought. I thought I'd killed the monster, but not without a hefty price." Reaching with one gaunt hand, the hero lifted up his suit jacket and the shirt underneath it, to reveal the remnants of a massive injury covering one side of her teacher's torso. Ochaco let out a gasp immediately, and she wasn't the only one. She'd seen a lot of terrible injuries, it was a necessity when one of your best friends puts himself in the hospital constantly, but this scar tissue was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

After the initial shock wore off, Ochaco noticed how concave some parts of All Might's chest and stomach were in that area, and while she didn't have a lot of experience with anatomy, she knew enough to be pretty sure something was wrong there. "How bad...what had to be taken out of you?" The question seemed to startle of few of her friends sitting around her, but Ochaco was too focused on her teacher's reaction.

The aging hero let out a sigh, one that felt like it came with a lot of pain attached. "I'm short major parts of several internal organs, and it would be a miracle if I survive more than another decade. But that seemed like a small price to pay for the evil I thought I'd defeated." Ochaco still wasn't 100% used to the idea that the world's greatest hero had lost his powers, but knowing he'd been injured so badly? That he was practically at death's door? It terrified Ochaco more than she knew was possible.

When Midoriya had asked Eijiro to come to some meeting with All Might, he'd agreed without even having to think about it. He might not have been the biggest fan of the hero, but it was impossible to deny the manliness All Might exuded, even in his more skeleton-ly body. But Midoriya? Easily in the Top 5 Manliest People Eijiro'd Ever Met list. Not only was he kickass in a fight, but he was so vulnerable with his emotions and stuff. That was always manly, no matter what Bakugo said. Everything he'd heard up to that point had been pretty crazy, but it was what came next that really threw him for a loop.

After tucking in his shirt again to hide the (badass) battle scar, All Might stepped back and sat in a chair, and Midoriya rose from his spot in the middle of the couch, between Iida and Uraraka, to stand in front of everyone himself. Before anyone else could beat him to it, Eijiro rose from the ground as fast as possible to nab the new open seat, and watched as its previous occupant struggled to put together his opening words. "I am...no, I was _born_ Quirkless." Those words hit everyone in a wave. Sure, they'd just found out All Might had passed along that One for One Quirk, or whatever, but Midoriya? Quirkless? It was hard for any of them to imagine.

Eijiro doesn't know what anyone else's reaction to it was at first, what appeared on all their faces, but neither did Midoriya, whose eyes were planted on the ground as he continued. "G-growing up, I loved heroes, especially All Might, since I was old enough to talk. It was the thing Kacchan and I bonded over, how we became friends." Hearing Midoriya use the word 'friend' for Bakugo threw Eijiro for a loop, but he let Midoriya keep going. "But when I started getting older, and it became clear I wasn't getting a Quirk, well...it became pretty clear I'd never be a hero. I took notes, studied everything I could about heroes, even tried to live by those ideals and protect others, but it didn't matter. To everyone, I was the Quirkless kid, and...that was rough."

That last words came out almost as a whisper, and Bakugo visibly flinched when he heard it, pointedly not looking at the subject of his undying enmity. Something was weird about that, and Eijiro knew he'd have to talk to Bakugo about it later, when they were hanging out just the two of them. But that could wait, right then and there Eijiro had to ask something. "Midoriya, man, were you _bullied_?" It felt wrong even saying the word, but when Midoriya grimaced in response, Eijiro knew he'd been right. "Listen, that's awful. You're one of the best people I know, and anyone who treated you like that, just because you didn't have a Quirk, they're not even worth thinking about. With or without a Quirk, I know I'd be your friend." He was quickly joined with murmurs of confirmation from every other member of the class looking at their friend as if seeing him for the first time.

For a second, Midoriya's eyes got watery and it looked like he'd start crying, like he sometimes did, but instead he took a deep breath and steadied himself, meeting Eijiro's eyes with the ghost of a smile on his face. "I appreciate that, Kirishima. I'm happy to have you, to have all of you guys as my friends. But, back then, by middle school, it was just me." While he'd never tell Midoriya, if Eijiro ever got to meet any of these middle school jerks who treated his buddy this way, they would get a piece of his mind, that's for sure.

When Midoriya had first approached Momo about meeting up after class to talk about something in All Might's office, she really wasn't sure what would happen. The two got along quite well, and she envied his seemingly boundless courage and combat ingenuity, but they'd never been the closest of friends. To find he was trusting her with a secret like this, a matter of national security that utterly changed the way she saw All Might and Midoriya? It was flattering, but Momo wasn't sure she was worthy of being included.

After disclosing to them how difficult his childhood had been, it seemed Midoriya was going to touch on something happier, if his burgeoning smile was anything to go by. "It was during my last year of Middle School that I ran into All Might. He saved me from a sludge villain, and I asked him if I ever had a chance to become a hero. At first he told me no, but after I saw Kacchan being attacked by that same villain later that day, with no one running to help him, I had to do something. Apparently this instinct I have, where I just run into danger, meant something to All Might, because he decided after that to pass One for All to me."

Hearing that, even before Midoriya had a Quirk, he still did things before thinking, running in to fight a villain just to save Bakugo of all people, Momo couldn't stop herself from giggling a little. That seemed to startle Midoriya, and feeling a blush coming on, Momo immediately started to explain. "Oh, it's just...that sounds exactly like something you'd do." Once the embarrassment had passed, Momo found herself continuing, "It's the thing I admire the most about you, Midoriya. Too often, I struggle to decide on the best course of action in the heat of things, but you just...act."

Now it was Midoriya's turn to blush, suddenly looking at a nearby painting as if it was suddenly very interesting. "Oh, well, uh, yeah I guess, but that gets me in a lot of trouble, y'know. Sometimes, taking the time to think through what you want to do is a lot better, at least in my opinion." Focusing on the past once again, Midoriya said, "Anyway, I had to prepare for One for All, which meant training my body to be able to take it in. I trained myself, under All Might's tutelage, all year long, until I finally was ready to take the quirk, on the same day as the entrance exam." Momo could only imagine how strenuous such a task could possibly be, and considered if that was how he'd gotten the abs everyone in the class were always so surprised to see.

When Tsuyu had been asked to come to the gathering, she'd accepted the invitation only seconds behind Iida and Ochaco. She'd always had difficulties making friends at her previous school, but nowadays the frog-themed hero couldn't imagine going to UA without her reckless, crazy, wonderful friend. So when she took in all of this information, about All Might's real backstory, and the truth behind Midoriya's Quirk, it all just made sense to her. If anyone was worth giving something like that to, it was Midoriya. Though it would be better if he had stopped breaking his bones a little earlier in the school year.

With all that had been said, Tsuyu wasn't entirely sure what else there was to talk about. Which is why she'd been completely blindsided by the last salvo of information shot her way. "Then I got into UA, and you guys all know that part. What you didn't know...was that the leader of the League of Villains, the one mentoring Shigaraki, was All for One. He'd somehow survived his fight with All Might, and he was the villain who fought him that day. The reason All Might isn't able to be a hero anymore...it's because he used the last of the remnants of One for All within him to win that fight." Asuyu hadn't been a part of that dangerous mission to save Bakugo from the League of Villains, but judging by how the rest of their friends, sans Ochaco, reacted to that news, it seemed likely that they knew exactly who Midoriya was talking about. There seemed something very fragile about Midoriya as he added onto that, "Now that, now that All Might's retired...it's my turn. I have to become the next Symbol of Peace, the number one hero."

Even if it didn't show on Asuyu's face, hearing those words come from him broke Asuyu's heart. She often felt like she was under tremendous pressure to succeed, but she only had her own dreams, and the expectations of her parents and siblings, on her back. Midoriya was carrying the hopes of the whole country, the same weight that All Might used to shoulder. Rising from her crouched position on the floor, Asuyu walked over to Midoriya and wrapped her arms around his slender neck. "It's going to be okay, ribbit. We're here for you, so you can always talk to us when things get to be too much"

"She's correct, my ears are always open for you, Midoriya."

"Man, I've always got your back, you know that!"

"I'm really glad you told us, Deku. You shouldn't have to bear this alone."

"You helped me with my issues, I should probably return the favor."

"Considering your situation, Midoriya, you've done an exemplary job! As class president, my door is always open!"

One by one, the other classmates added to what she'd said, and joined her in embracing Midoriya. Knowing the newest holder of One for All, he was probably the first to start crying, but the tears were soon flowing for everyone in the group hug.

"Ahem," All Might said, clearing his throat. Everyone broke away, to look at their teacher in surprise. "I appreciate all of you supporting young Midoriya in this, I really do. But I do need to reiterate: you cannot tell anyone else what you've learned today. Not your parents, siblings, even your best friends. If they aren't in this room right now, then they aren't learning any of this, not until I tell you all otherwise. Is that understood?" There was a general assent, and with that they were cleared to go back to their dorm.

The entire time Izuku was watching his plan go into effect, he was terrified it was going to fall apart. Maybe his friends wouldn't believe them, or they'd want to stop spending time with him now that they knew he was born Quirkless, or they'd lose respect for him now that they knew how hard this all was for him. There were so many ways it could go wrong.

But none of those possibilities came to pass. Instead, they took it all in better than Izuku could ever have hoped. None of them spilled the beans to anyone else, and suddenly he had all these people he could talk to about his life. Iida was always checking in to see how he was doing, if he needed anything to help relax him. Todoroki was spending more time with him, and they suddenly had a topic they could talk about openly: great expectations. Uraraka was just as cheerful as ever, and when Izuku felt like he just had to vent and cry about everything, she was always the go-to. Kirishima was somehow even more complimentary of him than before, and it seemed like his task as Bakugo's minder became more important and successful now that he'd learned more of their history. Momo suddenly had a lot of questions for him, about what it was like to be born Quirkless, how his Quirk worked exactly, and his observations about her own actions as a hero-in-training. Asuyu was the one he'd go to for the truth, because there was no one better at brutal honesty than her. It wasn't perfect, he still had anxiety build up now and then, but with a support network in place, it was manageable. It was good. It was like...having friends.


End file.
